The Mining Act specifies the cost of mine closure (already from JSW). The latest calculations run into billions

The cost of liquidation of hard coal mines over the next 10 years was estimated at PLN 11.275 billion in the new version of the draft mining act, after taking into account protections for JSW employees. This is PLN 2.15 billion more than in the earlier version, in which they were not included.

It is a matter of proceedings since January 9 this year. a draft amendment to the Act on the Operation of Hard Coal Mining, which has already been submitted to the government.

The main assumptions of the amendment are to enable the financing of benefits for employees of liquidated mining plants and that the liquidation of mines will be carried out by mining entrepreneurs who will be able to receive state subsidies for this purpose, and not by a restructuring company as before.

On Tuesday, the latest version of the draft amendment was published on the RCL website, along with a letter from the Minister of Energy, Miłosz Motyka, to the Council of Ministers submitting an amendment “due to the difficult financial situation in the coking hard coal mining sector in Poland, i.e. in Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa”.

Motyka explained that, among other things, a new wording of the definition of the support system was introduced. According to it, “the support system is a public support mechanism for the hard coal mining sector, specified in government strategic documents, for the purpose of restructuring and gradually phasing out hard coal mining activities, including in particular subsidies for reducing production capacity or covering costs resulting from the termination of hard coal mining and the liquidation of production units that are not related to the current production and the costs of reducing employment in this sector for the mining enterprises covered by it.

The minister clarified that the idea was to include JSW in the support system, and the aim was not to liquidate the company's mining plants, but to restructure it, including employment reduction. Therefore, employees of mining plants belonging to JSW will be covered by the same regulations regarding protective benefits as employees of mining companies covered by the support system (PGG, PKW and Węglokoks Kraj).

“Thus, employees employed at JSW mining plants will also be able to take advantage of mining holidays, leaves for employees of mechanical coal processing plants or one-off severance pay on equal terms,” ​​Motyka confirmed.

The Minister of Energy also pointed out that in order to make the process of restructuring and gradual liquidation of mining plants extracting hard coal more flexible, regulations were introduced enabling mining companies to sell a mine, a mining plant or a designated part thereof, free of charge, for the purpose of restructuring or liquidating them.

Moreover, in order to enable the support system to cover JSW and, in the future, Bogdanka, the so-called cut-off date. Without this, the benefits provided for in the amendment would only be available to employees of enterprises covered by the support system, employed on the date of entry into force of the amendment, and JSW and Bogdanka are not yet covered by this system.

The last point of Minister Motyka indicates that due to the inclusion in the JSW support system, the limit of state budget expenditure for the performance of tasks and activities arising from the Act was increased, i.e. expenses related to the payment of protective benefits to employees of JSW mining plants were taken into account.

The latest regulatory impact assessment estimated the impact of the proposed regulations on the state budget over ten years at PLN 11.275 million (including PLN 10.578 billion as a cost for the state budget, PLN 183 million for the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and PLN 604 million in lost income of state institutions).

In the first version of the project, the balance was estimated at PLN 4.182 billion, and in the version currently in force, from April this year, at PLN 9.125 million (including PLN 8.347 billion as a cost for the state budget, PLN 183 million for the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and PLN 595 million in lost income of state institutions).

Wojciech Balczun, the Minister of State Assets, said on Tuesday on Polish Radio RDC that the costs incurred by the state budget related to adding JSW and Bogdanka to the mining and protection act “are almost PLN 500 million next year alone, and the entire program, which lasts five years, the protection program to reduce employment at JSW as part of (…), these restructuring activities (…) it is PLN 2.9 billion.”

In the previous assessment of the regulatory effects of the amendment to the Mining Act (without JSW yet), it was predicted that 3.5 thousand people would benefit from mining leave. people, and 240 people on leave for employees of mechanical coal processing plants – for approx. 44 thousand. employees of companies covered by the support system.

In the version of the OSR taking into account JSW, it was estimated that an additional 3,011 people would benefit from mining leave, and 103 people would benefit from leave for employees of mechanical coal processing plants. At the end of December 2024, the group employed over 32.3 thousand. employees; in JSW alone it was over 21.3 thousand. people.

The draft amendment to the Mining Act specifies, among others: conditions of entitlement to mining leaves and leaves for coal mechanical processing workers (with 80% of remuneration calculated as for holiday leave, without the obligation to work) and to one-off severance pay in the amount of PLN 170,000. PLN net (without having to pay tax). (PAP)

mtb/ mick/